Alan Hansen once said, “You can't win anything with kids,” and has since been mercilessly trolled for his comments after the same Manchester United side he criticised the first day of the season went on to win a domestic double. Sir Alex Ferguson championed youth talents and many clubs across Europe have similarly invested in youth to win titles.
Real Madrid, Europe’s most successful club, are not known to have brought through youth players – especially in recent years – as the club’s Galactico policy saw the cream of the crop move to the Bernabeu in their quest for immediate success. However, there have been a few teenage players in the past two decades who did come good for Los Blancos.
While some teenage signings such as Martin Odegaard have failed to break through, we look at five players who made their debut as teenagers for the Spanish club in recent years before making a successful career as a footballer.
1) Iker Casillas
Back in November 1997, a 16-year-old Iker Casillas was drawing in a technical design class when he was asked to rush home by his headmaster. That’s when he got the news that he had been selected in the Real Madrid squad to travel to Norway to play in the Champions League.
And so, there he was, wearing the no.28 shirt and sitting on a wooden bench, getting his first taste of professional football. He didn’t get a chance to play as Santiago Canizares kept in goal but it was the start of a glorious career for the Spaniard.
Translation: “Today it's been 16 years since my first call-up for a Champions League game. Man, it was cold! Do you remember?”
While there was competition early in his career as Cesar Sanchez threatened to take his place, Casillas eventually made the position his own. By his 20th birthday, he had made almost 100 appearances for the club. He was also the youngest goalkeeper to play in a European Cup final (against Valencia in 2000).
By the end of a 17-year career at the Bernabeu, he had won 18 trophies, including five La Liga titles and three Champions League trophies – including the much-awaited La Decima where he was the captain of the side.
2) Raul
Had Atletico Madrid not met with financial troubles and not closed their academy, Raul Gonzalez may have gone on to become a bonafide Rojiblanco legend. Instead, he moved across the city’s divide to play for the Real youth team where he swiftly progressed through the ranks.
Even at 17, he was no pushover. As Jorge Valdano considered promoting Raul, who was tearing up the youth circuit and breaking records, Raul himself told him: “If you want to win, play me. If not, put someone else in.”
And so in October 1994, a 17-year-old Raul made his debut for Real Madrid, grabbing an assist in his first game. In the next game, he scored his first senior goal – made even more memorable because it was in the derby against his former club Atletico.
Once he started scoring goals, he never stopped. By the time he turned 20, he had already scored 58 goals for the club in all competitions. The forward wearing no.7 became a permanent fixture, hastening Emilio Butragueno’s exit before sealing his place in the side in spite of Galactico signings soon after.
By the end of his career at the Bernabeu, Raul made close to 750 appearances, scored 323 goals and won 16 trophies.
3) Sergio Ramos
Back in the 2004/05 season, Real Madrid drew with Sevilla with Sergio Ramos getting on the scoresheet. The Sevilla defender was only 18 and playing his first season of senior football. The match ended 2-2 in heated circumstances with two red cards shown to Dani Alves and Ivan Helguera. Zinedine Zidane had also scored in that game.
A few months later, 19-year-old Ramos found himself sitting next to Zidane in the Real Madrid dressing room as the club paid his buyout clause (€27m) and made him the most expensive Spanish teenager ever. Back then he was a centre-back occasionally playing as a defensive midfielder before moving into the right-back slot for a few years.
“When I was young, I let people advise me. I listened and I learned.” – Ramos
He has now been at the club for 12 seasons and provided numerous memorable moments. While 22 red cards do cast a dark cloud over his career, it is his goals that also define his legacy. The defender’s most famous goal is arguably the stoppage-time equaliser against Atletico Madrid in the 2014 Champions League final (92:48 has since become a thing).
When Casillas departed the club for Porto, it was Ramos who took the captain’s armband. There was nobody else at the club who was as committed and determined as he was. Ramos has won 15 trophies at Real – including three European titles (two of which he scored in the final).
4) Marcelo
If the famous Monchi had his way, Marcelo would have been playing at Sevilla. But Real Madrid stepped in and signed the 18-year-old Brazilian full-back in January 2007 – the soon-to-be-heir to Roberto Carlos. “He's a pearl that half of Europe wanted,” said club President Ramon Calderon.
Known for the bottomless pit of stamina in him, Marcelo would not stop running – so much so that central defenders Fabio Cannavaro and Gabriel Heinze had to rein him in by shouting at him to get back in position.
There were doubts about his ability to be a tactically disciplined player and managers such as Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti dropped him in crucial games. But Marcelo’s potential and skill always shone through and his style of play was gradually accepted in the grand scheme of things.
In fact, there have been games where Marcelo single-handedly ran the game from the left flank when the midfield failed to turn up. He would be a full-back one minute, a left midfielder the next and a left winger a minute later.
Marcelo has since won over Zinedine Zidane and established himself as a crucial member of the starting lineup. Having played in three distinct eras at Real Madrid, he has won 15 trophies and is still only 29 years old – a long way to go before he hangs up his boots.
5) Raphael Varane
As Florentino Perez considered signing Raphael Varane for £9m in 2011, it was Zinedine Zidane who convinced him, saying he would be the “finest French centre-back since Laurent Blanc”. At the time, many believed he would take some time to come good but his rapid rise to the top has surprised even Zidane.
At the age of 18, he was pretty much the fifth-choice centre-back behind Ramos, Pepe, Raul Albiol and Ricardo Carvalho. But an impressive Clasico debut in the Copa del Rey where he made a goal-line clearance and even scored the equaliser saw him receive more games. He also managed to score in the return leg where Real won 3-1.
Injuries plagued his early career at the Bernabeu but it did not stop him from replacing the more experienced Pepe in the starting lineup that won La Decima in 2014. By the time he was 20, he had even been named in the ‘Best Foreign XI in Real Madrid’s history’ by a popular Spanish publication.
Now 24, Varane has already won three Champions League titles, playing in two finals. In a fledgeling career where he is yet to play 200 games, the French defender has already won 11 trophies with the club.
